Effects Taboo

    Hands down, unequivocally the KPA is THE #1 pre amp unit created by man.
    No doubt, i will never buy another amplifier that is not a KPA ever again.


    Where the social taboo comes into play , is that although my supreme love for the KPA and what it can do for both live and recorded sounds....
    I do not believe that i will ever be happy with the limitations of the effects.


    What i am so boldly asking today, is what effects units there are that will surpass the KPA for effects alone?
    Again, I am in love with the profiles, so no need for any mention of amp modeling from other units, just effects alone.


    I am strongly considering the purchase of an Axe Fx 2XL or the Axe Fx 8 floorboard though the cost is so steep and the waiting list is rather unbearable. I have previously owned several Boss-Gt units and have found a ton of successful sounds from the GT-8 and GT-100.
    I am not a fan of any Digitech multieffects every one i have ever owned was so full of digital artifacts and just overall poor quality.
    I have done some research into the Eventide 4 though again it is right up there with the cost of a Fractal unit, and it is from what i have seen so out dated, not to mention the reviews on the pc based editor makes it look like a total night mare.
    Pod HD500X, I have zero experience with so anyone who has one please speak up.


    I wouldnt have such a huge beef with the KPA's effects if i could stack them in any order i choose or have multiple complex delay's.
    I just feel so restrained when it comes to effects with the KPA. That and the simple fact that i can only slap an outboard effects signal before the reverb and delay is another really huge a downer. So any help or suggestions on how to hook up an external effect unit with the KPA would be more than appreciated.


    I want to purchase another KPA for a backup, because well, Shit happens. Though i would like to get my effects in place before that happens.

    Just to give an idea of what im looking for effects/feature wise:


    An open free to place anywhere i want effects chain.
    Pitch shifting after a delay (every time the delay feedback hits the pitch increases/decreases)
    Custom Arpeggiation and patterns (sp?)
    Reverse delay
    Simple Pc effects chain editor
    Synth with adjustable bit depth

    I cant be alone in my concerns with effects limitations of the KPA, so please, any and all comments are welcome.

    Some people are effects gurus and some on here are not. I put myself in the non guru section I use a little reverb some delay and a phaser now and then. Some people on here who really know their effects and what they want use external effects units to get their desired sound. In the future the effects might improve and I think this probably on CK's list of things to do and will come at some point but when that his only the KPA team know. In my studio I use plugins like Eventide etc which are very high quality and give me what I want plus I can tweak them post production :)


    I'm sure some guys on here who are more effects driven will be able to point you in the right direction on what to use and how to use the KPA and external effects to its full potential

    You can get a used ULTRA that is just as good for effects as paying for the others.
    The advantage over the FX8 would be superior routing of those effects.


    Eventide is also very good, but as you said, expensive. But if some of the KPA's effects work for you but you need to replace some minimal set, Eventide can fill the gap cheaper.


    I still think you should try a used ULTRA and see if that doesn't scratch your itch. The advantage of the FXII is that it has dedicated DSP's for the amp and effects by themselves. Since you'd be using the ULTRA only as effects, it's lone DSP ought to be just fine.